When Al Ahly signed Percy Tau from Brighton & Hove Albion for a transfer fee of £1.6million back in the summer of 2021 many thought that the Red Eagles have signed a prolific striker.
The South African international was re-uniting with his former coach Pitso Mosimane who had modeled him while at Mamelodi Sundowns and together lifted two Absa Premier Soccer League titles with the side in 2014 and 2018.
Footage of the 28-year-old’s time at Brighton and most especially while at Sundowns highlights that he was on another level to his teammates.
But, Tau’s time at Al Ahly has been up and down. The striker has shown glimpses of what he can do.
In some occasions it looked like the Red Eagles have a perfect marksman but his season has been affected by injuries which has greatly affected by his form.
Tau was at his best for the Red Eagles in the Africans Champions League semifinals, where he scored twice and provided two assists in a 4-0 win over Algeria’s ES Setif.
And when the Cairo giants needed him to shine, during the final against Wydad Casablanca, he failed to sparkle. Since then has since not been able to stay on the pitch for long periods of time.
Despite everything that has happened, vocal Al Ahly’s legends led by Ahmed Sobeir have made it clear that they still has faith in him.
As quoted by KingFut, the former Egypt international said the following after Pitso Mosimane departure; “Tau’s agent confirmed that the player is committed to his contract with the team.
“Tau will not leave Al Ahly, he’s a high-quality player and the club has no intention of selling him.”
Since joining the Reds Eagles, Tau has made 26 appearances overall, scoring eight goals and providing six assists.
In his last appearance for Al Ahly, the Lion of Judah, as he is fondly called, suffered an injury in his quadriceps and has since been ruled for one month.
Reports have emerged that the striker doesn’t have a future at the record- African champions indicating that the striker is injury prone.
“There is an anger inside the club because of the injuries of the players. There are talks about chronic injuries and maybe will leave but not sure, because the season here [in Egypt] will end in 30 August,” a South African publication, Soccer Laduma quoted un-disclosed source.
Tau’s contract s set to run until June 2024 and if the Reds do decide to sell him, whoever takes the risk—and his injury record means it most certainly would be a risk—would be getting a player with genuine potential.
